Heatsink design tools.

[JoeBob]

Well, I was wondering if anyone knows of any software to aid in the design of heatsinks, simulations maybe. I recently found out at my fathers work there a machine that will cut metal with pressurised water, so I'll be using this to make my heatsinks and I get to design them and get them for free, sounds great except I don't know if my designs will be enough cooling, or be horrible overkill (I guess horrible overkill wouldn't be a bad thing), so I'd like a way to find out (without having them made then testing them then...).

 

[Geoff]

There is a useful, on-line calculator here:

http://www.mhtl.uwaterloo.ca/cgi-bin/rect_hs

and Rod Elliott has a simple spreadsheet calculator at the ESP Audio Pages.

Geoff

 

[GRollins]

Free heatsinks?
Let's see...you're in Quebec...and that's about, what, ten or twelve hours drive from here...look for me early tomorrow morning.

Grey

 

[Apogee]

Unless you're going to design something that's totally different, why not go to one of the heatsink manufacturer's websites and use one of their designs as a reference point?

Most of the sites also have heatsink calculators....

Search under heatsinks for the various vendors... There's lots of stuff on this topic...

Good luck,

Steve

 

[JoeBob]

Apogee, that's a great idea. And no I won't be going all facy on it, I just want the chunk of metal to cool, I really don't care what it looks like...

 

[Aud_Mot]

The 4/78 issue of Audo Amateur has a very useful article on the subject. If you could dig up a copy, you would be gold. It is only 3 pages, but tells you almost everything you need to know.

This is the same issue that has the Pass A40 class A amplifier. AudioXpress no longer lists this year available on thier back issues page.

The math is no more complicated than a series/parallel resistor problem. Wakefeild Heatsink Company used to put a good primer in thier catalog.

Do not be intimidated.

Aud_Mot